Love, Fear, Snakes
by Dragon with two hearts
Summary: Snaketalia AU. Dragon discovers that she can't write romance, but she'd like your opinion anyways. Ivan becomes enthralled by one of the other nagas living in the forest. Toris wonders why that lonely looking naga won't approach him. Toris's friends are overprotective.


There he was again, slipping through the LightWoods undergrowth, striped body easily avoiding obstacles as he headed to his destination. Ivan steeled himself to go talk to the man, but froze when he saw Toris, the person of his affections, joined by Feliks, Alfred, Tino, and his brothers. The newcomers didn't accept him; they were scared of him, with his larger body and strange habits. Ivan untangled himself from the branches of the tree he was laying in, retreating into the HeavyWoods, back to his lair. He didn't notice the pair of green eyes glance into the woods after him.

"Did you see that?" Toris turned to Feliks, who was babbling about some kind of pinkish flower that was "like, so stylish". As much as he considered the blond snake a friend, he certainly knew how to get on someone's nerves.

Feliks, interrupted in his spiel, looked in the direction Toris was looking with a bored grimace. "There's nothing there. So, back to this totally hip flower…" Feliks began rambling again, but Alfred and Tino also looked into the HeavyWoods curiously. Tino did not see anything, but Alfred thought he could see the barest hints of delicate pink and purple disappearing into the trees. It must have been Ivan, who never strayed far from his home, but scared the scales off of everyone he came across. Rumors floated around of his past actions; how he used to torture smaller Nagas, how he was the one who made Toris's brothers skittish, how he had forced those German brothers to move to the very outskirts of the LightWoods because of his capture and torture of the older brother. He wasn't a nice man, and though Alfred had no incident with him, he had no reason to disbelieve the rumors.

"It could have been Ivan," He muttered, forcing a hush on the group. The silence was awkward, but broken by Tino, who mentioned something about going to meet Berwald by sunset. Eventually the light chatter started up again, though Alfred still noticed Toris looking into the HeavyWoods with a sad kind of expression.

Ivan huddled into his lair, protected and warm from the outside world. He didn't know much about relationships, understandable, as he'd never been in one before. The feelings were unmistakable; he was in love with Toris. The fist time he saw the man was a few weeks ago, in the same sort of situation as a few hours ago. Toris was surrounded by his friends, and in a fit of shyness, Ivan had thrown himself into a tree to hide. The same thing had happened every day since then. Deciding on a course of action, Ivan resolved to at least talk to Toris one day, but had no idea of how to go about doing that.

There was another Naga living in the HeavyWoods, by the name of Berwald, perhaps he would know. Berwald's house was a few miles west of his, and he might make it before sunset. Ivan rushed out the door, slithering through the trees.

Berwald's house was more than a simple hole in the ground. It did extend underground, but there was also and extended area on the top, built in the shape of a simple hut. Ivan knocked on the door eagerly. A few seconds later, a deep blue-scaled Naga opened the door.

Blue eyes widened on a generally emotionless face as Berwald saw who it was. "Hej."

"Privyet Berwald, could I ask you a question?" Ivan's face easily betrayed his nervousness.

"Ja, come in. It's too cold out here." He opened the door a bit wider, allowing Ivan to pass him. "What is it that you want to ask?"

"I-I need some relationship advice, and you're the only one in a stable relationship who isn't scared of me."

Berwald considered Ivan's words, wondering why he didn't just go to Arthur and Francis. He said _stable_, which was definitely not a part of the Anglo-French family. He shrugged, and began telling Ivan all he knew about having a significant other.

Tino slithered up to the door, and prepared to turn the handle when he heard voices inside the house. He knew that his husband had friends (Namely Matthias and Lukas), but they were off vacationing in the south. The unfamiliar voice was far quieter than Matthias and far more emotion-filled than Lukas's voice anyways. It was feather-light, and sounded friendly, but he was sure there was a reason to be very scared of it.

He quietly opened the door and slithered inside, listening to the conversation.

"So who did you want to ask about this courtship anyways?" That was Berwald.

"I was thinking, well, there's this Garter snake Naga, but he's always surrounded by his friends, and I am very shy. His name is Toris, from what I've heard."

"I don't think I've met Toris before, but good luck."

Tino ducked into hiding in the kitchenette area as Ivan left. With this new information in mind, he resolved to tell everyone, to protect Toris from the large, potentially insane suitor. But that would have to wait until tomorrow.

"Ah, Ber, I'm home!"

Ivan didn't sleep well that night, with all of the new information swimming around in his brain. It wasn't until the early morning that he decided to just tell Toris his feelings and hope for the best.

In the morning, the first thing Tino did was rush over to his friends' homes, spreading the word about Ivan's affection for Toris. The reactions were generally the same, horror, anger, and worry. They all resolved to keep Toris away from HeavyWoods for the time being, to protect him.

It had been a few days since Ivan started his stakeout mission, fully intending to confess to Toris his true feelings. But he had been waiting here for a while, and Toris, who used to take this route daily, had not been seen once since Ivan visited Berwald. Ivan sat on the HeavyWoods border, snake half wriggling around, betraying his indecision. He hadn't left the HeavyWoods for quite some time, not liking too much contact with the other Nagas.

Ivan watched as Raivis, Toris's younger brother, slithered by. Ivan quivered with indecision, before crossing into the LightWoods. He made it about a mile before pausing. Two Nagas, who had been hiding behind trees, blocked his path. Eduard and Alfred, though scared, stood their ground.

"What do you want here Ivan?" Alfred growled.

"Well, I-I thought I would…" He trailed off. "I wanted to speak with Toris."

"Well he doesn't want to speak with you!" Eduard yelled, entire body tense.

"Wh-what? B-but I haven't-"

"It doesn't matter, He's seen you watching him, and knows why. He's not interested!"

Ivan began backing away at Eduard's now-unbridled fury.

"In fact, none of us are interested in having you near us! We don't like you, we don't want you. Get lost, Ivan!" He grabbed Ivan's shoulders and shoved.

Ivan felt tears prick his eyes even before Eduard started yelling, but the push was the straw that broke the camel's back. He blanched, tears rolling down his face as he fled for HeavyWoods.

"Dude, that was a bit harsh." Alfred looked a bit rueful as he watched Ivan flee.

"Perhaps, but I only want to keep my brother safe."

-Several days later-

Arthur's brows furrowed. He felt something was missing. Something big…

"Ah, Ivan hasn't visited in a few weeks, has he?" Arthur was on decent terms with the large Naga, and every so often they met up for tea, but he hadn't been around for a few weeks. Strange.

Arthur saw Alfred slither by. "Alfred, you go to the HeavyWoods border quite a bit, have you seen a large Naga, purple scales, pink scarf?"

"Oh, Ivan?" A nervous look flitted across his face, "I, uhhh… I saw him today."

"Ah, what was he doing? I haven't been able to meet up with him lately."

"He and Eduard were fighting, and he ran."

"What would a friendly boy like him get into a fight about? I'm worried, he's already so lonely, a fight will only depress him more."

A very quiet voice spoke up from behind Alfred, "Um, I can go talk to Tino and Berwald. To see if they've seen him recently."

"Excellent idea Matthew, you go do that. Alfred, I needed to talk to you about something."

Matthew headed straight for HeavyWoods, but was kronwalled by Toris. The two of them tumbled for a second, getting stopped by running into the very person they wanted to see.

"And what are you two doing?" Berwald asked, setting them upright.

"Arthur wants to know if you've seen Ivan recently," Matthew blurted, as Tino slithered up.

"I wanted to ask you the same thing." Toris admitted meekly.

"I haven't actually. He usually visits every couple of days and we have coffee together."

An unexpected look of guilt crossed Tino's face. "Maybe he's been keeping to his house. He is quite shy after all." Tino suggested that they go check up on him.

On the way, Toris suggested that Matthew go tell Arthur of Ivan's recent choice, and though the younger man looked skeptical, he agreed, slithering away.

The HeavyWoods seemed darker without his companion, but Toris trudged on, finally finding the semi-hidden hole that was Ivan's lair.

He lowered his body into the hole carefully, noting that it was very cold, and sort of damp and dark. The whole thing looked abandoned, and judging from the thick layer of dust on every horizontal surface, it had been several days.

"Ivan? Are you here?" There was no response, only echoing silence. "Ivan, I came to tell you something." When he received no reply yet again, Toris turned to leave. As he hauled his body out of the hole, he noticed something strange about the placement of twigs and dirt around the entrance. There appeared to be a shallow trench leading away from the hole, heading deeper into the HeavyWoods, directly to DeepWoods. Ivan was known for his eccentricities, but this took the cake. Toris grabbed a blanket from inside the lair, fully intending to find Ivan in DeepWoods and return it to him.

-One day, possibly two, later-

Toris coughed roughly into the blanket draped on his shoulders. The DeepWoods had more kick to them than he had anticipated, though he knew of the strange weather patterns that blew through. A raging blizzard whipped its way between the trees, despite the rest of the woods being mid-autumn. The strong wind buffeted Toris's slight body, tossing him into a tree. He pried himself off the frozen bark, proceeding carefully, but not carefully enough, as he fell into a large ditch, knocking himself out on the rocky walls.

He came to a while later, draped in the blanket, not lying in a frozen ditch, but on a warm slab of rock. Shooting upright, he felt a sharp pain on his back, and saw many large cuts that had been sewn up. They would leave scars, but didn't look infected. The room he was in appeared inhabited, but though he looked around, no one was immediately visible. There was a quiet moan from the ceiling, and Toris whipped his head up to see a hammock, with a long purple tail hanging over the edge.

"I-Ivan? Is that you?"

The Naga in the hammock grunted, shifting around. He didn't appear to awaken, so Toris slid off the rock, fully prepared to repay his rescuer in any way possible. Starting with breakfast.

Ivan woke up to the smell of small animals cooking. He looked around the room before remembering he was suspended in the air. His first responsibility was to check on Toris, who by stroke of luck had fallen right into this abandoned lair. He had made a right mess of the entryway, but Ivan was just happy to see him. Happiness turned to worry as Ivan felt the blood running from his crush's back and picked up on the severe shivering, despite the blanket (was that one of his?) on Toris's shoulders. That was two days ago, however. Now, Toris should be on the warm rock, sleeping. He wasn't, and there were streaks of blood from his back smeared over the edge. Ivan flew into panic mode, flopping out of the hammock and following the direction of the blood streaks.

He was led to the kitchen area (really the only area one could light a fire safely), where he saw Toris sitting in front of a large kettle (from which delicious smells were coming), baking in the heat. Ivan spared a moment to imagine that if they were mated, this is the sort of thing he would get to see all of the time, but he remembered Eduard's hateful words and became sad again, slithering away.

Toris heard the rustle of scales on stone and looked to the kitchen door. There was only a shadow on the wall from the candles lit in the bedroom, slinking away. It must have been Ivan, as he was the only other one here. Toris finished the stew, preparing two earthenware bowls. He brought one of them back to the bedroom.

"Ivan? I made some stew, are you coming to eat it?" The lump in the hammock didn't even twitch. Toris gazed at it sadly, leaving the bowl on the rock. "I'll be in the kitchen if you want to talk. Thank you for saving me." Toris slithered out of the room, returning to his own meal.

Ivan climbed out of the bed, hunger overriding sadness. He sniffed the stew, wondering how it could smell so delicious with the few ingredients used in it (there wasn't a lot in this lair, but the owner looked to have left rather suddenly, leaving behind all sorts of supplies.) The stew was gone rather quickly, and he didn't want to leave more work for Toris, so he wandered back to the kitchen to wash the bowl. It was quiet when he walked in, but the fire was still going. Toris was at a rock platform that served as a table, asleep. Ivan set his bowl down on a low shelf and slithered over. He was so adorable asleep, but the unusual position would likely leave him with severe pain in the morning. Ivan gathered up the man in his arms, looping the lengthy tail over his shoulder (despite being nearly stick thin, Toris was a very long Naga). He carried him to the warm rock and laid him down, arranging the coils comfortably, and as much as he knew it was wrong, Ivan laid down beside him, unmotivated to climb into the hammock where cold wind surrounded him on all sides. He pulled Toris close and fell asleep, a gentle smile on his face.

They woke the next morning at approximately the same time, in vaguely the same way, screaming in shock and falling off the bed. Toris hissed in pain as he landed on his back, and Ivan flung himself over, apologizing for pushing him out of the bed and sleeping next to him in the first place. Toris tried shaking Ivan's shoulders to get him to calm down, but he was in full-on babble mode, so Toris took drastic measures.

The kiss was fast, but did the job well as Ivan immediately shut up, a glazed look in his eye. Toris seemed to realize what he had done and smacked a hand over his mouth, squeaking out an apology.

"That was nice..." Ivan murmured, eyes still glazed. "Can we do it again?"

Toris chuckled, hugging the larger man before him. "Sure, but I need to ask you a few things first. Like: Why would you watch me from a distance? I like to think I'm approachable."

"You were always surrounded by friends, and I'm shy. Besides, they don't like me much."

"Why ever not, you're so nice."

"I'm different from them. I don't know why, but I must scare them. It makes me sad, but I've learned to live with it."

"Aww, I don't think you're scary. I'll have some words with them when we get back."

"Thank you." Russia sighed into Toris's hair. "There was another reason I watched but didn't approach."

"Oh really?"

"I was wondering, and feel free to refuse, but I was wondering if I could ask you out."

"Sure."

"Really? Wait, this isn't just out of pity, is it?"

Toris pecked him on the lips once more, "Not in the slightest."

-Back in HeavyWoods-

"Guys, Toris has been missing for days now!" Raivis was in a panic.

"He probably just wanted some time to think for himself," Alfred reasoned.

"That, or Ivan took him. That creep has been watching him for weeks now." Eduard's voice cut above both of the other boys.

"I just can't see him doing that. Intimidating he may be, but Ivan is not a kidnapper." Arthur's voice of reason was barely heard over Eduard's accusation. He slithered up, accompanied by Tino and Berwald.

"Ivan 'n me have been on good terms for a while. He wouldn't do anything bad." Sweden rumbled, "He was very taken with your friend Toris, but wouldn't do anything to harm him."

"I trust Berwald with this," Tino said. "He was big and scary, but he never did hurt anyone."

-Back with Ivan and Toris-

Ivan carved an easy path through the thick snow in DeepWoods. The blizzard had subsided for the moment, but could start up again quickly, so the two Nagas took the opportunity to head back to Ivan's lair. The trip was spent in companionable silence, and they made it to the lair with relative ease. Inside, it was dustier than ever, but it didn't matter because they could officially be labeled a couple now, even though they hadn't bonded in _quite_ that way. Ivan wasted no time in getting rid of the worst of the dust, clearing a space in the middle of the main room for him and Toris to settle. Ivan had the goofiest grin on his face, as he curled around Toris before they went to sleep. Toris had other plans, however.

"Ivan, are you sure you want to be a pair? You'll likely meet someone far more interesting than me down the road, and I don't want to keep you from the opportunity."

Ivan's smile went from goofy to sly in an instant, and he wrapped his body seductively around Toris. "I wouldn't have it any other way." He leaned into his future-lover's body for a kiss.

"How 'bout we just check out Ivan's lair. Maybe he's there and we can ask if he's seen Toris." Berwald suggested, following Toris's friends through the LightWoods area. They didn't appear to have any idea what they were doing.

"Fine, that sounds like a good idea," Alfred said. He really hoped his friend was safe. And from the looks on their faces, everyone else did too.

The trek to Ivan's lair was short. Berwald volunteered himself to go first, just in case there was danger. He lowered himself carefully into the hole, glancing from side to side every few seconds. There didn't appear to be any signs of a struggle, in fact he would have thought the place abandoned were it not for the twin trails through the dust leading into the main room. Berwald followed them quietly, but what he saw was not quite expected.

Ivan and Toris were tangled up together, sleeping peacefully. The center of the room was the only area cleared of dust, making it the ideal location to sleep, but there was something else in the picture that made their sleeping together seem much more intimate…

Oh, the dust around the circle was stirred up, as though they had been thrashing. Berwald blushed, wondering how he didn't see it before, and backed out of the room. Still blushing, he hoisted himself out of the lair, not daring to meet anyone's eyes. They must have taken it wrong, because Raivis started sobbing and Eduard's glare became more pronounced. Berwald held up his hands in an attempt to calm everyone down. When things became still again, he started to explain.

"They're both fine, but you definitely don't want to go in there right now." His blush returned a bit as he slithered away, shoulders slumped. Tino followed close behind, leaving the rest of them to figure out what Berwald could have meant.

"Oh. _Oh_." Alfred also blushed, slinking away quickly with Arthur.

Eduard was still angry with Ivan, but saw that he could do nothing about his brother's choice at this point. He grabbed Feliks and Raivis, steering them away from the lair.

Toris explained his choice and the situation the next day, and though he wasn't happy, Eduard accepted. The rest of the Nagas seemed a bit more ready to face the truth, and they all lived happily ever after.

Fin.

#######

So what do you all think? This is really my first time writing romance, so it probably isn't that good, but I'd like to hear your opinion anyways.

I may also write the _scene_ in a different story, so be on the lookout for that.

Nothing else to say here…


End file.
